Five Sports Films That Never Get Old
The English Premier League came to a conclusion over the weekend, Euro 2020 has been delayed 12 months, the rest of MLB season is a big question mark and the Olympics are delayed too. Fortunately, there’s a treasure trove of good sports films and documentaries on Netflix right now, just in time to keep fans while there’s not a lot of sports on.
Here are five sports films that serve up wins currently on Netflix:
Coach Carter
A biographical sports drama that was released 15 years ago, Coach Carter stars Samuel L. Jackson playing Richmond High School basketball coach Ken Carter, who suspended their undefeated team due to poor academic results in 1999.
Carter deploys a strict disciplinary training regime for the High School team but is forced to lock the gym and suspend action to get them to study until their grades improve.
Rudy
The oldest film in our list, Rudy was a biographic sports film released in 1993, following the College American Football career of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. Rudy, is not the most athletic of people, and his parents laugh at his dreams of playing for the great Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Growing up and even when he left Illinois, no one would have expected Rudy to ever make the Fighting Irish team. In fact, the odds would have been about as long as getting a Royal Flush in online poker for real money at the start of his journey. And those are substantial odds. However, Ruettiger ignores those laughing at him and travels to Notre Dame, studying extra hours and giving 110% just to make the team each year. The film ends with Rudy taking to the field for the first time in what is his final game for the team, and with his family in attendance…
Icarus
Not strictly a film but rather a documentary. However, it’s such a fascinating two-hour watch that we had to include it on the list. It is focused around illegal doping in the Russian sports leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics, leading to the countries ban from the 2016 Olympics.
Film director Bryan Fogel teams up with Russian scientist Grigory Rodchenkov, who was the director of the country’s national anti-doping laboratory in the build up to the Sochi games. Fogel takes banned performance-enhancing drugs in a way that will go undetected from drug tests. The results are that his times greatly improve.
As the documentary goes on, Rodchenkov fears for his life when he testifies against the Russian Olympic Committee as two of his associates suffer suspicious deaths.
Space Jam
An animated sports comedy makes our list. Michael Jordan stars in Warner Bros’ 1996 classic Space Jam. Jordan teams up with the Looney Tunes to help them win a basketball match against a group of aliens who want to enslave them as attractions for their theme park.
The film went on to gross over $230 million worldwide and a sequel starring LeBron James is scheduled for release next summer.
Moneyball
Based on Michael Lewis’ book of the same title, Moneyball accounts the Oakland Athletics’ baseball team’s 2002 season and their general manager, Bill Beane’s attempt to assemble a competitive team despite having one of the MLB’s lowest salaries.
Brad Pitt plays the lead role, meeting a young Yale economics graduate whose theory, using sabermetrics, selecting players based on their on-base percentage, is put to the test. Despite a very slow start, the A’s go on to win the American League West, though fall short in the playoffs.
